Priyanka Mehtani, a 2015-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, who just assumed charge as Chandigarh Regional Passport officer, said that delivering passport services to people in a timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable manner is her topmost priority. 

"Corrective steps will be taken to reduce the backlog and delay in passport issuance and necessary instructions have been given to the officials concerned to reduce the backlog of passport appointments", she said.

The RPO said that in a meeting with the officials concerned, a comprehensive action plan has been worked out and there will be no more delays with passports being delivered within the stipulated period.

Mehtani added that all the guidelines of the Government of India will be implemented strictly to facilitate passport seekers.  The applicants who are in urgent need of passports and have all the necessary documents to obtain passports and are not able to get online appointments may approach the RPO,  Sector 34A, Chandigarh with the necessary documents and with the online registration number (ARN Number) and "Proof of urgency" for appointments. The appointments may be given based on the load and capacity of PSK and reason of urgency.

Prior to joining as RPO Chandigarh, Mehtani had served in Hong Kong, Portugal, and New Delhi. She had done her schooling at Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh and graduated from St. Stephen's College Delhi. She did her LLB from Panjab University in 2013. She was also a Chartered Accountant and later became an IFS officer in 2015.